THE distinctive trainer imprint engraved in his face left detectives in no doubt as to how he sustained the horrific injuries that almost killed him.

Andrew Tuckwell spent more than three weeks in a coma recovering from the ferocious beating in which his head was repeatedly stamped on as he lay on the ground.

For almost a month his desperate family could not be sure he would survive.

If he did, they could not dare to believe he would ever recover enough to live a normal life again.

But 28-year-old Andrew has astounded medics and loved ones as he begins to piece his life back together.

After weeks of endless rehabilitation at a specialist unit in Southampton, he has learned to wash and dress himself.

His sister and brother-in-law, Caroline and Mark Golding, know it is “daft” to say, but they are amazed he can now walk up and down stairs and even cut up his own food.

Today the 18-year-old who unleashed the savage attack on Andrew is facing prison after admitting inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent.

Lewis Packham admitted the assault, which happened in Cuppernham Lane on the evening of Romsey’s Beggars Fair on July 9, when he appeared before Southampton Crown Court yesterday.

He also pleaded guilty to a further charge of causing actual bodily harm after attacking 21-year-old Tom Webb, who stepped in to try and make peace.

The attack happened after Packham, from Tavistock Close, Romsey, had been drinking with friends in The Tavern pub in the town during the day.

The court heard how he was seen walking around the bar being “aggressive” and “rude” and approached men saying “You look like fighters”.

Andrew was also in the pub with his mates and the trouble flared once they all left and began walking home.

Speaking exclusively to the Daily Echo, Mark 40, said: “He [Packham] obviously didn’t know when to stop.

People came out of their homes to help Andrew that night, putting him in the recovery position and calling an ambulance, but they thought he was dead.

Caroline, 39, added: “He had a trainer print on his face – it was quite clear and you could see someone had been stamping on him.

“When I first got to the hospital and saw him, he didn’t look like my brother, we could not recognise him.

“He was black and blue and so swollen, his face and neck were twice the size. It was horrendous.

“At the beginning we were being told it was touch and go. When we asked the doctors they told us Andrew could still die – that the first 48 hours were critical. He had bleeding on the brain and they were worried about the pressure on his head.

“We just had to wait and see what happened, there was absolutely nothing we could do. We were just in a daze.

“You think by being there you are helping, but whether you are or not I’m not sure.”

Andrew spent around four weeks sedated by doctors before he was slowly brought round.

Caroline said: “We were just waiting to see if he recognised us, if he could hear, talk, see. You fear the worst.”

Initially Andrew struggled to recognise some members of his family and friends. His memory of the past six months has been erased and he is still unfamiliar with his sister’s home and her children.

Caroline said: “Despite that, he is still a lot better than we ever thought. He’s not very confident now, and he is quite quiet and we will have to work on that.

“But on the whole, we are lucky and he is lucky that it isn’t any worse.”

Andrew will now have to undergo extensive reconstructive surgery to repair the damage to his jaw and nose.

He spent weeks at Southampton Rehabilitation Unit before finally being allowed home to live with his parents last week.

Mark said: “He won’t be able to live on his own again. He will have to be retrained on simple things, so that when he walks to the shop he knows how to get back, or so that he knows how to get on a bus by himself.

“But it is amazing how much he has done in just the past few weeks.

He has astounded us by what a strong person he must be.”

Attacker to be sentenced

• Packham, pictured, was told his case was being adjourned and he will be sentenced later this year.

But as he was taken back to the cells, having spent the past 63 days on remand, he was accompanied by a detective who charged the teenager with further offences.

Packham is accused of attacking a couple as they walked home from a pub in Romsey in May this year.

Kristi Kincaid, 23, suffered a broken ankle as she stepped into the fray as Packham allegedly attacked her partner Christopher Rutherford, 28.

Police say the attack happened from behind and was unprovoked.

Packham was charged with causing grievous bodily harm and a second charge of actual bodily harm alongside his stepbrother Charlie Moody, 18, also from Tavistock Close, and friend Daniel Wilkinson, 18, from Woodley Close, Romsey.

The trio will appear before Southampton Magistrates Court on Thursday.

• Caroline and Mark said they have been overwhelmed by public support for Andrew.

More than 2,000 people have joined a Facebook page, while pubs in North Baddesley area where Caroline and Mark live have held collections.

Mark said: “We’d like to thank those people as well as all the medical staff in the intensive care unit at Southampton’s Wessex Neurological Unit and Southampton Rehabilitation Unit who have been remarkable in helping Andrew to get better.”